Megan Garcia and Sewell Setzer Jr., Individually and as the Personal Representatives of the Estate of S.R.S. III v. Character Technologies, Inc.; Noam Shazeer; Daniel De Frietas Adiwarsana; and Google LLC

Summary

The United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida addresses Defendant Noam Shazeer’s motion to seal exhibits filed in support of his motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. The Court permits sealing of unredacted versions of three exhibits and public filing of redacted versions containing specified personal and financial information. It denies the request for permanent or indefinite sealing and sets the duration under Local Rule 1.11(e).

Holdings

1. Shazeer demonstrated good cause to file under seal the unredacted versions of Docs. 203-2, 203-3, and 203-4 and to file public versions redacting his social security number, home address, specified stock-purchase prices, and specified stock-grant amounts.
2. The court denied Shazeer's request to seal the unredacted exhibits permanently or indefinitely because Local Rule 1.11(e) provides that a seal expires ninety days after the case is closed and all appeals are exhausted, and Shazeer cited no authority supporting a different duration.
3. The court declined to consider a provisional sealing request based on De Freitas's unfiled memorandum and considered only Shazeer's request to seal the unredacted document and place a redacted version on the public docket; the clerk was directed to replace the placeholder at Doc. 203-5 with Doc. 224-4.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Shazeer established good cause to seal the unredacted versions of Docs. 203-2, 203-3, and 203-4 and permit specified redactions on the public docket.
2. Whether the court could permanently or indefinitely seal the unredacted exhibits notwithstanding Local Rule 1.11(e)'s seal-duration provision.
3. Whether Doc. 203-5 should remain provisionally sealed or instead be replaced with the document submitted as Doc. 224-4.

Disposition

other